Community Events

If an escape from the everyday pressure of real life is what you’re looking for, then a journey to the Emerald City may be just the ticket you need. "The Wiz" runs two weekends beginning with 7:30 p.m. performances on May 13 and 14.

The following weekend offers performances on May 19, 20, and 21 at 7:30 p.m. plus an American Sign Language interpreted matinee at 2 p.m. on May 21.

Tickets for reserved seating – which are $15 for adults; $10 for children, students with ASB, seniors and military with ID – are available online at www.bothelldrama.org. General admission seating will be available at the box office in the lobby one hour prior to each performance.

The Northshore Performing Arts Center is located on the BHS campus, 18125 92nd Ave. NE.

Evergreen Family Theatre (EFT) will present their teen cast in the classic favorite, "Anne of Green Gables."

Adapted for stage by University of Washington professor, Jon Jory, this delightful version offers a glimpse at the imaginative and mischievious Anne as she wins the hearts of Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert, but not before she turns their world upside down.

The story is set in the small town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island in Canada in 1907 and uses five different actresses to play Anne.

This wonderful story of hard luck which turns to hope and love, is perfect for the whole family.

Performances are May 19, 20 and 21. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available at the door.

Curtain is at 7 p.m. at RedWood Family Church (11500 Redmond-Woodinvillle Road, Redmond).

Call (425) 885-2244 for more information or send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Bellevue Arts Museum newest exhibit, "The Mysterious Content of Softness," brings together eleven emerging and established artists to explore the transformative power of fiber and its physical, psychological and cultural connections to the human body.

On display is a variety of sculptures, installations and crafts created by time-honored techniques such as knitting, loom-weaving, embroidery and crotchet, as well as by several new methods that present alternative uses of traditional textiles.

According to Stefano Catalani, curator of the exhibition, the artists were selected for their "emotional response to and understanding of fiber’s potential for capturing the fluidity of life."

He notes that some of the individuals exploit the durability and fragility of the medium, addressing issues of gender identity "by repositioning and humorously challenging the expectations from a medium so stereotypically feminine."

Featured artists include: Diem Chau, Lauren DiCioccio, Angela Ellsworth, James Gobel, Angela Hennessy, Rock Hushka, Lisa Kellner, Miller & Shellabarger, Lacey Jane Roberts, Jeremy Sanders and Nathan Vincent. In "Seer Bonnets: A Continuing Offense," Angela Ellsworth, a fourth generation Mormon who grew up in Salt Lake City, presents an installation of nine white bonnets encrusted with pearl corsage pins. It’s a nod to early pioneer headpieces, plural wives and seer stones. Each bonnet is said to represent one of the multiple wives of Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Ellsworth’s great-great-grandfather, who was indicted for unlawful cohabitation in 1882 (as a result of the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act).

Though the bonnets are beautiful, they can also be viewed as capable of inflicting a torturing pain with their thousands of pins.

"Locker Room," a large scale piece by Nathan Vincent, presents a stereotypical masculine space created through the stereotypically feminine processes of knitting and crocheting.

By focusing on the contradiction between medium and subject matter, the artist breaks down the barrier of traditional gender associations.

The objects (i.e. urinals, showers, lockers and benches) are no longer rough and manly, but soft and inviting, evoking a feminine quality.

James Gobel’s "paintings" are made of felt and yarn, which have been cut and carefully inlaid to create portraits of paunchy, mostly bearded, working-class men. Wearing flannel shirts, blue jeans and suspenders, they are seen engaging in a variety of domestic type activities or are glitzed up like 80’s pop stars.

Gobel’s portraits take inspiration from a specific gay subculture, the "bear" community, which shuns the popular stereotype of the effeminate gay male.

Artist Diem Chau’s work speaks to family history and one’s connection to his/her past and culture. Working from photos, she embroiders silhouettes and portraits onto silk organza, which has been delicately stretched over the rims of found or gifted porcelain plates, saucers and cups.

There is a drawing quality to her stitches, enhanced by the white background of the porcelain.

Symbols, such as braids, are explored, depicting the passing of time.

Lauren Dicioccio is known for her meticulously hand-sewn and embroidered life-size replicas of everyday objects, including newspapers, National Geographic magazines, pencils, plastic bags, watches, cassette tapes, film spools, playing cards and plastic water bottles.

These banal objects, which are often overlooked in society, are instilled with a sense of preciousness. Compositions such as "This World of Ours," for example, express concern for life’s transience and impermanence through the attempt to memorialize and preserve.

Hard not to notice is Lacey Jane Roberts’ "We Couldn’t Get In. We Couldn’t Get Out," a10-foot high fuchsia-colored crocheted fence, which physically blocks the flow of visitors through the galleries.

Like other artists in the exhibit, Roberts uses the feminine processes of knitting and crochet to create stereotypically masculine objects and address issues of gender within society.

Lisa Kellner’s work, on the other hand, deviates from this theme. Her "Feeding on the Entrails of My Strung Out Mind," captures both the beauty and decay of life. Inspired by microscopic images of disease, the bulbous silk organza shapes appear as abnormal growths or tumors invading the gallery space.

Each shape is hand-formed by stretching fabric around an object and then applying pigment, ink, bleach and other elements to it.

Once the object is removed, what remains is a translucent skin that maintains a cellular shape.

The vivid colors and floral-like globules are arresting. They attract, yet create a sense of discomfort. "The Mysterious Content of Softness" is a fascinating exhibit that celebrates contemporary fiber art.

"The Mysterious Content of Softness" runs through June 26 at Bellevue Arts Museum.

The Northshore Schools Foundation has announced a "Dine Out for Students" night Sunday, May 15 at Vivendo Restaurant (23718 Bothell Everett Highway, Bothell).Vivendo’s will donate 18 percent of sales between 4 and 9 p.m. to the Northshore Schools Foundation.The evening will feature live piano music and Italian and Greek cuisine, as well as supporting Northshore students. Just be sure to tell your server that you are dining in support of the foundation.

NSF is a nonprofit organization that raises funds and supports programs that enhance the learning opportunities of all Northshore students.